


Hot Under The Collar

by seki, yukiscorpio



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-11
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-13 07:14:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12978846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seki/pseuds/seki, https://archiveofourown.org/users/yukiscorpio/pseuds/yukiscorpio
Summary: Ignis's new intern might have a shady past, but maybe there's a bright future ahead of him here at Lucis Inc.An office AU, co-written for Ignis Fluff Week.





	1. Chapter 1

Internships are common in Lucis Inc., and fiercely competed over by gap year kids and university students. And rightly so — Lucis is a market leader of its field, a multinational company that can provide a huge variety of career paths.

Which makes the intern Cor has just handed over quite suspicious indeed.

Well, 'suspicious' isn't the right word, Ignis supposes. The man just does not fit the usual look of the interns who walk through the doors. He is older, for one, clearly past typical university age, and he is going to be working for Ignis, the office manager, rather than any of the engineering teams. Which is totally fine — the internship programme does allow that — it's simply that Ignis has never had one of 'the kids' before and cannot understand why anyone would want to shadow an office manager.

"Well, first things first — let's get you acquainted with the coffee machine," Ignis says, and gestures for the intern to follow him to the kitchen just across the corridor from his office.

"I'll be making coffees then."

"Oh, no. That's not what I mean, Noctis." At the kitchen, Ignis rests a hand on the machine on the counter. "It's just that if you're a caffeine addict like 95% of this office is, then you will want to know how to get Ardyn to work. He's a little temperamental."

Ignis does a demonstration: check the reservoir, refill if necessary but don't put too much water in otherwise it won't work. Put a mug under the spout before pressing any buttons, and hold the button down until it beeps once. If it beeps more times than that, then switch the thing off and on, and try again.

He successfully obtains two mugs of coffee this way, and hands one to his new intern, Noctis, who sips it.

"It's good coffee," says Noctis, eyeing the machine, "the thing's a bit sensitive, huh."

"It has been repaired several times, but, well." If they are lucky, one day they might get a new one. "Anyway, welcome, Noctis. I will do my best so that you can get the most out of your time with us."

Noctis smiles, and it's not the sort of nervous smiles that Ignis often sees on people on their first day at a new job. "Thanks. And... this is a great opportunity, so thanks for having me and I'll also do my best."

"It's an unusual choice, to be working with me instead of the engineers." Ignis lifts his mug briefly, indicating towards the general direction of the main office floor.

"Haha, I can't work out there; it's not like I'm studying for a degree or anything. Plus they said I have a knack for management."

"'They'?"

"Oh, y'know," says Noctis, quite nonchalantly, "the tutors inside."

Then it all clicks in Ignis's head. It's little wonder that Noctis does not fit the usual description of a student intern. Noctis has joined Lucis through the other programme, the one that helps ex-offenders gain life skills and job experience. Cor has mentioned none of this in his email.

But it shouldn't matter, Ignis tells himself. He must try to treat Noctis simply as a fellow adult and a new colleague.

"It's good to hear," Ignis says after he recovers from his surprise. He hopes it's not too obvious. "Come on, I'll give you a tour of the building, then we'll get started."

\--

As promised, Noctis does his best.

It feels great to have someone at his old assistant's desk, even if what Ignis really needs is a permanent assistant, not someone who is scheduled to leave soon after he is properly trained. It is a point Ignis has discussed, told, grumbled, and nearly yelled at Cor about, but is told every time that "something is being worked out", with no timetable in sight. It has got to the point that Ignis has threatened to quit — not that he actually would — and in response, he has been given an intern. At least Noctis seems to pick things up fast and is pleasant to work with.

He is punctual, even if he often looks tired in the mornings until his third cup of coffee. He is clean and presentable, and makes Ignis reevaluate supermarket fashion because of how he looks in his suit from said clothing range. Truth to be told, with his stylish hair that just skims the eyes and gelled upwards at the back, and such striking blue eyes on a very pretty face, Noctis is more than just presentable, and it takes a few days for Ignis to train himself out of stealing looks of his new colleague.

Maybe, depending on his performance, the company can offer Noctis a job at the end of his internship. That would make Ignis's work life far easier, and quite lovely indeed.

Well, assuming that Noctis does well. Right now, he is struggling with Ardyn, a fight that is entertaining to watch through the opened office door when Ignis isn't the one doing the fighting.

"We were so good yesterday! I thought we had something great going, I really did." Hands on his hips, Noctis is talking at the coffee machine. "And now you won't even talk to me. God, you're worse than my ex!"

He flips the machine off and back on again, but it is still refusing to play ball. Letting out a little groan of frustration, Noctis slaps it hard.

"I certainly hope you did not hit your ex," Ignis calls out with a chuckle, but as soon as the words leave his mouth a thought comes to him: what if that was what Noctis went to jail for? The company's programme only takes on ex-convicts who have been thoroughly assessed as not dangerous or no-longer-dangerous. Even so, Noctis has not mentioned his prison sentence and Ignis is not privy to any detail.

Noctis turns to Ignis, about to say something, then a gurgling sound distracts them both. The coffee machine shudders to life and finally starts working.

"No," says Noctis, lifting an eyebrow. "But Ardyn likes it rough, apparently."

It must be the way Noctis said it, the comment makes a laugh burst out of Ignis. "Well, while Ardyn's in the mood, could you please get me a cup also?"

"Already on it."

It takes only another few threats for Noctis to cajole the second cup out of Ardyn's reluctant insides, and he places the cup on Ignis's desk with a distinctly smug expression.

"Ardyn juice, freshly-squeezed just for you," he sings to the tune of a well-known TV commercial, earning himself an unadulterated look of disgust from Ignis. "Don't drink it if you don't wanna; pretty sure someone else in the office would want a coffee."

As if Ignis would let coffee be taken away from him. "Ardyn juice it is." He drinks it to make a point, despite it being too hot. "Did you find the missing sellotape I asked you to locate?"

"No, I couldn't, but downstairs had some when I asked."

"Damn, I was very _attached_ to that roll."

Noctis rolls his eyes on cue.

"Anyway. The email?"

Noctis returns to his desk and shows Ignis: a simple mail-all to tell the entire office that the fire alarms will be tested at a certain time, and a reminder to let all visitors know. Should there be a real fire, Ignis and Noctis will run screaming across each floor for everyone to get out.

It was what Ignis told Noctis to write nearly word-for-word. Ignis shows him which mailing lists to use, which is the main purpose of the exercise, and tells him to send the email out.

"Really? Just like that?"

"It's fine. Humour makes it more likely that they will remember." A hand on Noctis's desk, leaning his weight into it, Ignis brings his coffee to his mouth with his other hand. "And in the case of an actual fire, we _will_ have to get everyone to leave."

"With screaming?"

"With screaming." Though Ignis reckons unplugging computers would be a more efficient way to get attention. "Next task for you: this Friday our CEO will be meeting with Tenebrae International here. With this comes hotel bookings, catering arrangements, car parking, et cetera."

Noctis has a look of trepidation. "The CEO, huh."

This is the first time since Noctis's arrival that Ignis detects a hint of worry. He points at the list he has sent over a moment ago.

"Yes. But it's all been arranged, Noctis, I just need you to check that everything is in place. There will be trouble if the hotel misplaces our booking or the caterer gets the wrong date. And the reception will need your help on the day with the guests."

That does not seem to reassure Noctis at all. "I, uh..."

This will be the first hurdle then, that the presence of the big bosses makes Noctis nervous? Ignis draws a deep breath, and notices what the problem might actually be — he can smell Noctis's shampoo and hairspray, which means he is leaning way too close. He pulls away, muttering an apology. Noctis looks up and immediately turns a mild shade of pink.

"You are taller than my last assistant," Ignis says in an attempt to make an excuse, although it's very likely that Noctis is shorter than Luche. Either way it doesn't matter, he needs to not intrude on the man's personal space to this degree. "The meeting will be fine. I'll help you along as needed."

\--

The first real, true hurdle that Noctis has to go through, in all of this subterfuge, is the day that Ravus Nox Fleuret shows up for the grand meeting with Tenebrae International.

Those in the know have been doing a sterling job of hiding their familiarity with Noctis, have looked _through_ him on occasion as if he really were the intern he's masquerading as. Noctis has had to make very certain to stay away from his father lest their family resemblance clue people in. The hairstyle is helping; it hides part of his face for a start, and makes him look more Asian than his father ever has. But it's still made for a few shaky moments, at least in Noctis's mind, with all the various board members that have been funnelling through the offices this morning.

Still. There's been no actual _problems,_ and then Ravus shows up and his eyes spark with recognition as soon as Noctis approaches him.

"Mr Nox Fleuret," Noctis says, quickly, wishing that for _once_ Ravus would read his private emails so he'd have been forewarned, "I'm an office assistant here at Lucis. I'm here to escort you to the meeting, so if you'll follow me."

"I… very well," Ravus says, and mercifully holds his tongue until the lift doors close behind them. "Has your father finally demoted you to your rightful status?"

"Very funny. I'll level with you: I'm investigating the recent internal scandals, so I'm incognito. Just a simple intern, here to be helpful and see if anyone else is fiddling the books."

Ravus tips his head to one side, narrows his eyes. "Interesting."

"Please, _please_ just play along." The doors open. "Right this way, Mr Nox Fleuret."

"After you."

Noctis begins to lead Ravus along the short corridor. It's empty, thankfully, because Noctis has approximately zero faith in Ravus's ability or willingness to go along with all this. Ravus stays quiet until Noctis gets him to the door of the conference suite, and then as his parting shot says, "and I'd like a black coffee, if you'd be so good, young man?"

 _Wonderful_. "Of course, Mr Nox Fleuret." He adds, under his breath, "and fuck you, Ravus."

"You wish," Ravus murmurs, and with that, he's gone.

Noctis spends the journey back to the reception room trying to work out if he can a) somehow slip a strong laxative into Ravus's coffee and b) get said coffee to Ravus without having to actually enter the conference room where his father is.

"Everything alright?"

And there's the office manager he's been investigating here, the far-too-good-to-be-true Ignis Scientia. Except that Ignis is, somewhat to Noctis's disbelief, entirely as good as his reputation suggests; dedicated, loyal, hard-working, and alarmingly handsome. Sometimes when Ignis leans over Noctis's desk to explain things on the computer all Noctis can think is he can lean as close as he wants, oh yes.

"Mr Nox Fleuret would like a coffee," Noctis admits. "I'm not looking forward to coaxing one out of Ardyn, not after yesterday's flat refusal to give me so much as a trickle."

"There's a kitchen on this floor," Ignis tells him, gesturing down another corridor behind the reception desk. "Second door on the right, and their coffee machine works like a charm every time."

"Alright, on it."

"Bring it here and I'll take it to him myself with the last set of stock market reports -- honestly, now Mr Nox Fleuret is here, your escorting work is probably done for the day. If you could just ring the hotels to double-check the reservations one last time while you're upstairs, and then you're free to work on whatever you like until the caterers arrive to set up lunch. I'll call you when that happens."

Noctis nods, grateful and relieved in equal measure. Ignis seems to think Noctis is scared by the big bosses, and that's a useful enough excuse to cover his real nerves.

\--

"What would you like?"

Noctis scans the counter, then the board on the back wall. "A cappuccino and... a pizza croissant."

Somehow it doesn't surprise Ignis that Noctis would order one of those atrocious-looking things. But he isn't going to stop Noctis — he isn't Noctis's mother. "No cake?"

"Oh, are we going all out?" Noctis rubs his hands together. "Then I'll have a slice of the coffee and walnut please."

The cashier takes their orders, and Ignis pays. He's treating. Earlier when he told Noctis he would take him out for tea, Noctis did laugh and say it was unnecessary, that he wasn't one of them young interns who needed constant attention and rewards, but also that he wasn't going to say no to tea, and so here they are. And Ignis thinks if he was given a younger intern he would have taken them out, there is no reason to not give Noctis the same perk just because he's older.

Or it's all just an excuse to take Noctis to the nice cafe down the street. Does it really matter? Ignis hopes it doesn't matter. It has been months since Luche's departure, it's normal for Ignis to be giddy over having an assistant, especially one this… interesting.

They take their drinks and sit down in a couple of overstuffed armchairs, and the food is brought over for them.

"Mmm," says Noctis after taking a bite of his pizza croissant. "This hits the spot."

"I have to admit it does smell quite nice."

"I was so hungry after helping those caterers set up."

"And the adrenaline hasn't helped, I suppose. Feelings of hunger tend to return after the rush."

"Um, yeah I guess." Noctis looks a little sheepish. "You've not brought your own lunch today?" he asks, and Ignis shakes his head. "Your homemade lunches always look really good."

Ignis smiles. "Thank you. It's just because it's quite hard to cook dinner for one, really, so I bring in the leftovers the next day."

"Ah, I thought you were just being economical."

"Haha, not really."

"You live on your own?"

Ignis nods. "Eight stops away on the transit. How about you?"

There is that sheepish look again. "With my parents."

Well, if Noctis is still finding his feet after spending time in prison, that is a rather sensible thing to do. "No need to pull that face, it's nothing to be ashamed of."

The food disappears in lightning speed. Taking his drink with him, Noctis leans back into the armchair. He is blushing. "Thanks..."

Better find something to talk about that won't make Noctis self-conscious. Although before that, Ignis has to point at his own upper lip, indicating to Noctis that he has got a little line of cappuccino foam there, and that makes Noctis lick his lips self-consciously. Oh, that is just too cute.

All right. A change of topic. "You have joined the company at one of the busiest times of the year. In a week or two things will quiet down a lot, and our main worries will be getting everyone to submit their expenses and getting them approved and paid before the holidays." A thought comes to Ignis. "Speaking of holidays, there's also the company Christmas party. I don't remember getting your RSVP."

Apparently this is also a topic that makes Noctis uncomfortable. Is he just having a bad day? "I'm not sure if I should go."

"Because you're an intern? If you shouldn't be there then you wouldn't have been invited."

"It's also not really my scene... I mean, no offence."

"I have worked very hard on the event, so offence taken." Ignis knits his brows and nudges his glasses with a curled finger. 'Not his scene'? He does truly feel slightly offended. "Besides which, Noctis, I think you misunderstand. You don't have a choice in the matter. You will be there to assist with the organisation on the day."

Noctis looks almost distressed. "Oh."

"You'll need to help me with a number of small tasks, no wriggling out of it. And I do insist you dress appropriately."

"...oh, god. Are you a Christmas sweater person? I figured you had better taste."

"Sweaters aren't mandatory, just something festive." Ignis sips at his coffee. "You can ask Prompto — Blond Prompto..."

"Yeah I know Prompto. There's more than one Prompto in the office?" asks Noctis incredulously.

"There's also Nerd Prompto on Floor 2."

"But Blond Prompto _is_ a nerd."

"You've not met Nerd Prompto then. Anyway, ask Blond Prompto for photos from the previous Christmas parties, if you're that worried about attire. You'll have fun, I promise. And you can bring a plus-one. Your partner, or a friend..."

"It'll be just me." Noctis sinks further into his plush seat. "You've got a plus-one?"

"Not this year." The thought doesn't bother Ignis at all. "We'll be stagging it together then."

"I, er, look forward to it."

\--

Being home is great. If Young Noctis saw himself now he'd definitely feel betrayed and disgusted that he hadn't already gone out and bought a house and be enjoying the bachelor life, but after spending two years abroad and then a few months in various offices in the country, Noctis likes living with his family. The shine will wear off after a while so he won't want to be here forever, but he'll enjoy it while it lasts.

It also makes it very easy for him to grab his Dad for a quick private chat.

"So," Noctis says, deciding to just lead with the demand, "you're not allowed to go to the staff Christmas party this year."

His father regards him from behind a glass of whisky. "Is that so."

"Yeah. See, the office manager you assigned me to? He's organising it, so I have to be there to help him, and if I'm there you _cannot_ be there too. They'll figure it out if you are."

"I'm not sure they will. Not with that haircut of yours. You don't look much like me. I'm starting to wonder if I should ask your mother some serious questions on the matter."

Noctis glares.

"More to the point," his father says, putting down the glass, "I never attend that party."

Oh.

"It's not really my scene."

Noctis scowls. His father is _not_ allowed to make that excuse. "What? Why not? Is there something wrong with the staff party? Or are you too—"

"Son, I'm the CEO. I am certain that everyone will have more fun without their boss there to watch."

Shit. That actually makes sense. "Huh. Alright. I was gonna get a bit insulted on Ignis's behalf — he puts _so_ much effort into it, poor guy. I swear he's doing at least three people's jobs."

"This is the Ignis who threatened to quit?"

"Yeah, because he's doing _three people's jobs_." Noctis slumps back in his own chair. "Poor guy's so pleased to have even a temporary assistant."

"That's twice you've called him poor in the last thirty seconds. We are trying to recruit more assistants, but the priority is—"

"I know, I know. Weed out any more embezzlers, then find a replacement for Drautos, _then_ the rest." Noctis sighs. "I am pretty certain nobody I'm around in the head office is fiddling their expenses, but then I'll be checking that properly when we actually handle the next batch of those."

"And concerns about being seen with me aside, is the undercover ruse going alright? No suspicions?"

"Not that I know of. Except Ravus nearly said hi when he shouldn't know me."

"Yes, well, I gather he's very amused by the situation."

"Ugh."

"One more thing, now I consider it: the party. Try not to let your uncle Clarus get too drunk."

Noctis slaps his hands on his cheeks in dramatic faux-horror. "Oh no. Not Clarus and the claret."

"It's for your benefit. He might out you if he gets too far gone."

"Ugh," Noctis groans again, since that seems like the only appropriate response. "I'm too old to be in the closet again."

"It'll be over soon. Just one more office left after this one."

"I know, I know. The next one better not have a broken coffee machine. I'm getting a callus from banging Ardyn every few hours."

One of Noctis's father's eyebrow rises slowly.

"We need to replace that thing. Ignis hasn't talked about it at all but the rest of the office told me it's a sore point. Luche Lazarus ordered two new coffee machines with office money which no one's ever seen," Noctis waves vaguely. "It's like the whole floor is being punished for a man that's already been fired."

His father sips the whisky again. "Ignis hasn't mentioned it?"

"No. I'm guessing he just wants to forget the whole thing."

"Or he is also massaging the numbers."

Noctis wants to defend Ignis straight away, but it's probably fair for his father to suspect. "It's unlikely, but I'll find out if he is. And really, given that he is doing _three people's jobs_ I think we'd still be in the black value-wise."

"Yes, three people's jobs. I heard it the first time," says Noctis's father. "I presume at the end of this you will be producing a list of improvements to make, like you did at the other offices."

"Yep. Long and extensive. But before that, I've got more urgent stuff to do."

"And that is?"

"Shopping. I need to get a Christmas sweater."


	2. Chapter 2

After checking four different shops, Noctis concludes that there is no such thing as a tasteful Christmas sweater. Even if that's clearly the intent in some cases.

"If you can't beat them," he murmurs to himself, picking through a particularly awful rack, and in the end leaves with something that even Ignis will have to agree is both festive and dreadful.

He doesn't let Ignis see them, despite Ignis's none-too-subtle questions on his 'apparel plans' on the morning of the party. Ignis himself is in a rather tasteful shirt, white with a pattern of tiny holly leaves that isn't even noticeably 'festive' unless you look closely. Noctis is a bit disappointed. He'd been expecting something far more flamboyant.

Noctis gets lots of chances to look closely as they're finalising things at the party venue. It's a big room, dozens of circular tables and one 'high' table for the upper-management types, which Noctis makes a mental note to keep as far away from as possible. Most of those people happen to know Noctis as Regis's son, and there's every chance that they will forget not to recognise him after a few drinks.

Ignis holds up one of the placecards, and makes a thoughtful noise. "Is Blond Prompto's card over there? His surname is Argentum."

"I thought the place settings were pre-assigned?" Noctis picks up the card, hands it across the table behind him. "You're switching them around?"

"Only a very few. I like young Prompto. And he likes Cindy. You must know Cindy, lovely girl, works in the IT department."

Noctis does. Prompto's usually a bit too tongue-tied to really talk to Cindy, whenever she comes to fix his work PC. "So, what, you're setting them up."

Ignis sets Prompto's card down, and Noctis finds himself watching how elegant Ignis's hands are as he does it. "Not quite. She thinks he's sweet. And he won't be a pest to her, even if she's wearing something as bombastic as usual. The man whose card you're holding is a little less… reliable, on that front, after a few drinks. I'd like to spare all the women from having to sit next to him."

Noctis looks down at the card; he recognises the name, an executive from the second floor. "Right. Fine. So he's going… here, between two guys. Okay."

"If you want me to move you, incidentally, do say. For now, you're next to me, since you were late to RSVP. But you might not want your boss at your elbow."

Next to Ignis seems like a good place. An excellent place, actually. Ignis might get tipsy, and that would make him more likely to admit any wrongdoing, for one thing. And the fact that a tipsy, relaxed Ignis might be _fun_ is also pretty great. Noctis settles for a bland, "I don't mind."

"Unless you really _do_ have something more appropriate than your black shirt and slacks with you, _I_ might mind." 

"Patience, Speccy," says Noctis, continuing to put down the plastic tokens for each person as he's been told to. "What are these for anyway?"

"For getting drinks at the bar. When you run out you can stop or pay in cash."

From where he is, Noctis squints at the bar menu; there is indeed a list of how many tokens each type of drink requires. "Three-point-five chips for a double and mixer? These things don't come in point-fives. You're making people do maths at the party?"

"The bar will have the appropriate change. And if they're too drunk to do the calculations then it's time for them to stop. Everyone will start to barter and play games for the tokens, don't worry about it." Ignis says, scanning the tables again and checking a list in his hand. "I'm looking for someone to sit next to Holly Teulle. Anyone you would recommend?"

"Is that the Holly that's also in IT like Cindy?

"That's her."

"Sit her next to Gladio."

Ignis's eyebrows go up at the firmness in Noctis's voice. "Is there some history here I've missed?"

"Gladio likes Holly. Or, at least, he said he liked 'big girls'," and Noctis grins. "And when I asked what sort of big, he said 'like Holly'."

"Fascinating. That tidbit had entirely passed me by. Where's Gladiolus's card?" Ignis asks, then locates it himself.

A bit more reshuffling later, and it all looks ready. Noctis keeps glancing over at Ignis. The man is really _enjoying_ this, has a pleased little smile on his face. It's doing definite and probably unfortunate things to Noctis's libido to see him so happy.

"Right. Staff will be starting to arrive in ten to fifteen minutes. I've just got to give a few names to the bar staff, to tell them to keep an eye out and stop them drinking too much."

Noctis affects ignorance, out of curiosity. "Anyone in particular?"

"A few of the regulars. And the CEO's personal assistant, Clarus? It's necessary to keep him _off_ the claret."

Oh, god, Ignis is _adorable_.

"If you're getting changed, go do that."

Noctis nods. "On it. Back in five."

When he remerges just a moment later, Ignis has brushed his hair down into a fringe, a style which makes him look about ten years younger. He is fiddling with something in his hands, but stops and regards Noctis. "Fantastically terrible," he says in full approval.

"Or," Noctis puts on the headband, so that he has a plush Li'l Malbuddy astride his head, matching the same character on his sweater, "terribly fantastic." He stretches his arms out either side, trying to look proud of himself. Might as well own it.

Ignis is cute even when he snorts. "That finishes the look very well. I also like the pom poms."

"Thank you very much." Noctis sweeps his arms and bows. The pom poms on his sweater wobble. "And what are you wearing, because I'd say your shirt does not pass muster."

At that, Ignis unfurls the item in his hands, and puts it on with practised ease. It is a pair of ridiculous, eye-burningly yellow Chocobo braces.

Noctis's jaw drops. "Amazing." He knew it, relaxed Ignis _is_ fun.

"There's a matching bow-tie. And yet, I am certain that we will be outshone by the gentleman who will sit to my left."

The gentleman to Ignis's left, it turns out, is a handsome silver-haired man named Dino, one of the best sales executives in the company. Noctis knows of him, and had never imagined their first meeting would be one during which the man is wearing a suit made out of quilted squares, each bearing a Christmas motif. It is garish, hideous, and Noctis kind of loves it unironically.

"Ignis, it's been a little while. You're looking good."

Ignis smiles. "As are you. That is a magnificent ensemble you have there."

"Well, thanks. And these," and Dino lifts a hand, slides a finger _under_ one of Ignis's braces straps, and pulls it gently away from his chest, "are pretty damned good."

Slightly to Noctis's surprise, Ignis doesn't seem even slightly fazed by this shameless, flirty move. Instead he just chuckles. "I am rather proud of them. Where's your lovely wife this evening?"

Shit. This man is _married_ , and here he is pawing at Ignis. Noctis doesn't know what he should do -- it's probably none of his business, but maybe Ignis asked about Dino's wife to try and get him to back off? Either way, Dino's not making the best first impression on Noctis.

"Over there," and Dino hitches a thumb over his shoulder, towards the other side of the room, his other hand still curled in Ignis's braces. "I hope you put her next to someone cute."

"Do you know Aranea? Aranea Highwind from Legal."

"Of course I do. Oh, Coctura is going to have a blast." Finally Dino's hand slowly lets go of Ignis, then he leans forward to look across. "You're Noctis, right, Ignis's protégé."

Noctis unclenches the jaw he hasn't realised he has been clenching. "Yeah. Hi, Dino. You're from... marketing?"

The man furrows his slim eyebrows. "Sales. Marketing spends money. Sales bring in the money."

"Oops." Noctis turns, tries to see where Dino's wife is sitting. "You don't want to sit with your wife?"

Dino laughs as if Noctis has just said something very funny. "We already sleep in the same bed every night, do we have to sit together at dinner too?" He stands. "I'm going to get something from the bar — you two want anything?"

Then Dino is gone, for the moment. Noctis doesn't quite know what to say except, "wow."

"Dino is being very Dino today."

"He's married and he..." Noctis points at Ignis's braces and slides his index finger up and down in the air. "What the hell?"

Ignis nudges his glasses, looking entirely unconcerned. "As far as I am aware, he and his wife are monogamous, and he is not even remotely interested in men, he simply enjoys flirting."

"So he's _not_ hitting on you?"

"If he is, he isn't going to get anywhere. I like my men... less married, shall we say."

He likes men? Ignis likes men. That knowledge alone is worth coming to the Christmas party for. Noctis already thought before that Ignis might, but that's entirely based on his fashion which is not a very reliable indicator these days. Not to mention people like Dino throwing off everyone's gaydar.

But if Ignis likes guys, it means Noctis might have a chance. Not right now, not until he can tell Ignis the truth about who he is, and nobody likes having been lied to so that chance is probably miniscule, but still...

The evening progresses steadily, with food disappearing at a reasonable rate, and alcohol quite a bit less so. Noctis tries to pace himself. Being drunk tonight is not an option for him. What if he said something stupid and gave his identity away? Or worse still, told Ignis how handsome he was and asked him if he was single?

Wait, Noctis's identity was the more important of the two things there. Probably.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

A finger slides across the tablecloth, pushing a token with it. Noctis's gaze follows the hand, up the arm, to a smiling Ignis. God, he's gorgeous.

"Are you s..." and god, Noctis nearly just blurts out his last thought. He starts again. "Are you seriously giving up a drinks token just to be told 'not much'?"

Ignis covers the token with his hand. "Well. No, offer withdrawn, your thoughts can stay your own."

"You look like you're running low, anyway."

"It's true. Not even enough for another drink." Ignis heaves a dramatic sigh, lifts one hand to his chest. "Heaven forfend, but I might have to pay for my next one."

Noctis has plenty left, and a sudden whim strikes him. He picks up two, not very stealthily at all, and then pretends to 'magically' pluck them from behind Ignis's ear in the least convincing trick ever. "Hang on. You got some extra stashed away after all."

Ignis blinks at him, then stares at the tokens in Noctis's hand, and then his whole face creases up as he starts laughing. "Did I, now?"

"Impressive, huh."

"Astonishing. Is that the kind of thing they taught you inside?"

For a second Noctis is confused, and then remembers he's supposed to be an ex-convict. Ignis _never_ asks him about it, but, well, there's always a first time. "That's right. Magic tricks and excel spreadsheets. It's a varied curriculum, and I'm good with my hands."

"Well, thank you for finding my hidden stash." Ignis takes the tokens. "I'll fetch myself one last drink, and bless myself for my own foresight."

"You do that."

As soon as Ignis is out of earshot, Dino leans across the empty space. "Smooth," he says, with a chuckle. "Good with your hands, huh. Trying to get him drunk?"

"Um. No?"

"Pity." Dino's expression is smug enough to make Noctis feel a bit weird. "I think you'd have a shot."

This is bait and Noctis knows it, but he is also a very hungry fish. "Ha. You think?"

Dino shrugs a shoulder, scrapes his spoon around a ramekin for the last bit of the creme brulee. An extra one he's talked the kitchen into giving him. "He's been single for a while, you two keep making eyes at each other, so why not?

"He's my boss, for a start."

"Well, you don't come across a man like Ignis that often, so your loss." They look towards the bar. Ignis is being served already; looks like the event organiser gets preferential treatment. "Our fair Ignis. He deserves to meet someone who'd go all out and sweep him off his feet. I swear this office would've fallen apart if not for him."

Noctis leans across towards Dino a little. "Yeah?"

"You heard about what happened a few months ago? The guy whose desk you're using now, and Ignis's old boss?"

"A bit. Ignis is doing their work."

"That's right, cos those guys haven't been replaced. That's no way to treat anyone, but Ignis is still here, and it's not even like he hasn't got options."

Interesting. "Options?"

Dino suddenly lowers his voice. "You heard of Niflheim?"

Of course Noctis knows about Niflheim. "Uh, no?"

"Our biggest rival. Like..." Dino gestures at Noctis's sweater. "Like Malbuddy and Blaster Bro. Enemies for life. And I know for a fact that they tried to headhunt our dear office manager."

Holy shit. If this is true then Lucis has narrowly avoided a disaster it didn't even see coming. "Seriously? Did he tell you?"

Dino shakes his head. "Oh no. I have friends and connections. Ignis turned down their offer, so they changed tactic and told him it's not worth staying with Lucis. Called our office a piece of flotsam. Must've pissed him off badly, because my friend asked me if there was any way they could salvage the whole thing." Dino glances back over at Ignis. "I think he would've been better off going to Niflheim, but he's still here and so am I. Neither of us know what's good for us, I guess."

Noctis has to swallow his rage quickly. "Neither does the company, it looks like. Ignis is far too good for us."

Then Ignis is back, holding, to Noctis's shock, two shot glasses.

"Shots?"

"One for you, and one for me." Ignis puts a shot glass right in front of Noctis. "After this, you and I are going to dance."

Dance? With Ignis? "No way! I can't dance!"

"Tequila makes _everyone_ dance." Ignis lifts the drink to his lips, gives Noctis a look. "Come on."

Shit. Something about Ignis's attitude makes it very clear Noctis isn't going to be allowed to refuse again, and he's never been very good at turning down a challenge anyway. He sighs, and lifts the other shot. "Just… keep Prompto and his camera away from me."

"Now, where's the fun without hard evidence? Drink up. One, two—"

Noctis downs the shot at the same time Ignis does. Ugh; it burns in the back of his throat. "Glagh."

"Dance time."

The two thoughts in Noctis's head, as Ignis takes him by the arm and half leads, half drags him towards the dance floor, are 1) he's touching me and 2) _hard_ evidence.

Fortunately, and also unfortunately, this is a company event and not a nightclub, so there is no tight press of bodies, not even much physical contact of any sort. For one of the songs everyone copies Clarus's dad-dancing, and at other times there is just a lot of shuffling about, laughing, and Noctis trying to avoid Prompto's camera while Ignis pushes him towards it. In the end Noctis gives in, and grabs a lot of selfies: with Prompto who is wearing a Blaster Bro sweater, the two of them doing a Justice Monsters pose together, with Ignis wearing Noctis's Li'l Malbuddy headband, with Gladio who lost a drinking game with Ignis — despite Ignis saying that the tequila was his last drink, with Dino who threatens to charge him if he takes more than three photos.

Then, looking around, Noctis finds his next victim.

"Hey, Mr. Leonis!"

\--

Ignis surveys the room. It's been a good party, he thinks, aware that the rosy warmth of the alcohol in his system is contributing to that conclusion. People appear to have had fun. Ignis has had fun. There's been dancing and drinking and flirting, but nobody has crossed any boundaries.

Ignis knows not to do anything inappropriate at these parties, and usually that's fairly easy. But there's something about Noctis's smiles and jokes that makes Ignis itch to touch him. As things are, he keeps noticing he's touching Noctis only _after_ he sees Noctis look at Ignis's hand. But Noctis isn't exactly pulling away from the contact. In fact, he puts his arm around Ignis's shoulders for several selfies, tugs at his sleeve to get his attention, stumbles into him once on the dancefloor and steadies himself with a palm against Ignis's chest and a swift apology.

Ignis keeps finding his eyes drifting to Noctis's mouth, and that's _also_ rather inappropriate, but Noctis keeps biting at his own lower lip and really how is Ignis supposed to not notice that?

Oh dear, he thinks, realising he's gazing at the man again across the room, and forcing himself to look away. Ignis Scientia, he scolds himself, you are drunk, and he is your _intern_. Control yourself.

"Like what you see?" Dino asks, teasingly, next to him.

It barely deserves a response. "Go away, Dino."

"You don't want that. He was asking me if you were single."

And suddenly Dino has the _entirety_ of Ignis's attention. "Really?"

"Sure did. Thinks you're cute. Kept watching your tush while you were out there."

If that's true — and Ignis is only half-convinced it is — then at least he's not the only one being a little inappropriate tonight. "He's my intern. I'm not going to sexually harass the man."

"It ain't harassment if he wants it."

"It is a miracle you've accrued no lawsuits yet with that attitude."

"All I'm sayin' is, you two could be onto a good thing here. If you both loosen up a little and let the magic happen, that is."

Ignis finds himself actually giving the suggestion some serious thought. Hell, he must be quite drunk.

Noctis was talking to Cor from Human Resources a while ago. Ignis is hoping Noctis was telling the man that he's enjoying his internship, maybe enquiring about potential openings. Right now Noctis is playing charades with Blond Prompto and some others, with a pool of everyone's remaining tokens as prizes. It's only been a few short weeks, but Noctis seems well-liked in the office. He does have another bit of work experience lined up elsewhere after his time at Lucis, but it would be lovely if he could return after that. And even if he can't, well, that would mean it wouldn't be a problem for Ignis to ask him out, at least...

"You're considering."

Even if that is true, the smugness in Dino's voice makes Ignis feel just a touch defensive. "Again, go away, Dino," he says, scanning the dance floor. "Hmm, is that your wife and Aranea dancing together?"

With Dino gone to join in on the dancing, Ignis catches himself gazing at Noctis once more, and sighs. All right, it's time to head home. The extra drinks with Gladiolus were worth it, since he won — which meant Gladiolus had to ask Holly for a dance — but if Ignis wants to not be a wreck at work tomorrow, and also avoid doing something impulsive that he might regret, he'd better get home and get some rest.

Just as he's getting his coat from the cloakroom, Noctis appears at his side. "Wait, you're going?"

"I am. My part is done. I don't have to stay for closedown."

"Huh. How're you getting home?"

"Uber." Ignis gestures vaguely with his phone. "How about you? Staying here?"

"...nah, I think I'm about done too, and if you're going, it means it's a good time to go," Noctis says, and hands his tag over to the cloakroom assistant. "What time are we working tomorrow?"

"Oh, just get in before noon. Nobody works very hard the day after the party," says Ignis. "And how are you getting home? I can give you a lift if you like."

He stops himself before words along the lines of "or you can come to mine and I'll show you my working coffee machine" escape his mouth.

Noctis looks at him, and right now he's close enough to make Ignis's chest feel tight. Noctis does have lovely eyes, the deep blue irises and those long eyelashes. It's quite unfair. "Um," Noctis says. "N… no. I don't live far away, I'll just walk it."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah. Um." And Ignis could swear Noctis leans in, sways perilously close before he takes a little step back. "I'll see you tomorrow, Specs."

It takes all Ignis's self-control not to step forward, not to kiss the man. And then his phone beeps, startling him out of his train of thought.

"Ah." Ignis clears his throat. Good lord. He's _not_ going to kiss his intern at the Christmas party, and damn Dino for putting such ideas in his head. "I think that's my ride. Get home safe, and I'll see you tomorrow."

Despite it all, despite his sensible conscience telling him he's doing the right thing, he spends his journey home wishing he was a little bolder.


	3. Chapter 3

On a hunch that Ignis's 'before noon' of the night before was a bit generous, Noctis makes it into the office for eleven o'clock.

Ignis is there, of course, hair falling in his face as it had at the party, but otherwise looking entirely alert and professional. His shirt is even crisply pressed, the pleated front looking as though it had been ironed that morning.

"Go on then," Noctis says, crossing to his desk. "What time did you get here?"

"Half past eight."

"You're _crazy_. Did you even sleep?"

"I'm fine. And someone did have to open the office. Unfortunately our clients aren't all understanding enough to let us coast the day after the party."

Damn, if Noctis had known the office hours were that rigid, he would've tried to come in earlier. Not that he can do anything about it now. "The hair, is that staying now? It looks nice."

"Hmm?" Ignis brushes his long fringe with a finger, pushing it out of his eyes. "I just didn't have the time to sort it out. I only wear it up for work, it's hard to do anything otherwise."

So hair-up Ignis is work Ignis, and hair-down Ignis is, well, Ignis literally letting his hair down. A thought comes to Noctis, and he looks into his work bag which he hasn't cleared out from yesterday, pulling out something. "Don't worry, I gotcha."

Ignis rolls his eyes to look upwards as Noctis brushes his fringe back and a Li'l Malbuddy descends upon his head, the headband helping to hold his fringe back. "Magnificent," Ignis intones, dryly.

"Definitely." Ignis just let him brush his hair. Noctis has to stop himself from giggling. "Right, stay where you are, I'll go and punch Ardyn for some coffee."

"Actually," Ignis rises from his chair, and plucks the Malbuddy from his hair, "Ardyn's been particularly uncooperative today, despite my entreaties and tears. I think I'm going to get an early lunch. Would you like to join me? Maybe the cafe down the road?"

This is unprecedented, and… a little worrying. "Um. Okay?"

They shrug on their winter coats and head out. The cafe isn't far away, but the walk is just long enough for Noctis to worry if Ignis needs to tell him something in private. Perhaps something happened last night that he doesn't remember. Maybe Ignis has figured out who Noctis really is.

But then they get there, stand in front of the counter and Ignis — with careful enunciation — orders himself a pizza croissant, and it hits Noctis:

"Are you still drunk? You're still drunk from last night, aren't you."

Ignis narrows his eyes at him, and slowly — as if it's a secret he's sharing with Noctis — smiles. "Yes, yes I am."

Noctis opens his mouth wide, but no sound comes out. He coughs and tries again. "Oh my god. And you were _working_?"

"I'm only tipsy at this point. And I wasn't doing anything too critical, just in case." Ignis gestures to the pastry display. "Do you want one of these?"

"...Sure."

Ignis nods at the barista. "Two pizza croissants, a double espresso, a flat white, and..." he glances at Noctis again, "cappuccino for you?"

"Yup, and why don't you sit down and I'll get this?"

"No, absolutely not, this is on me."

Noctis fishes out his wallet and quickly touches it against the contactless payment point. "My mum's always taught me: never take advantage of someone who's drunk."

"...ah." Ignis shakes his head, still smiling. "Very well. My thanks."

"My treat." His earlier worry evaporating, Noctis suddenly feels daring, so he winks, and tips his head towards the seating area. "Go sit."

He can almost hear Dino in his head: _smooth_.

The cafe provides him with a tray, and he ferries everything carefully over to the table Ignis has chosen; tucked away at the back, near the stairs that lead up to the toilets. Ignis is on his phone, seems to be flipping through things on it.

"Here you go."

Ignis looks up, and Noctis catches a glimpse of his phone screen; photos from the night before. "Thank you," Ignis says, that slow lazy smile on his face again. "This is very sweet of you. Though I must emphasise that I'm not as drunk as you seem to be thinking."

"We'll see about that."

"I'll also hopefully soon be even less drunk," Ignis says, taking the double espresso. "So my plan is to eat this pizza croissant before my guilt circuits kick back in."

"It _is_ weird to see you eating something this unhealthy."

"Mm." Ignis sips his espresso. "You know how it is. Got to watch your weight. Men either want you slim, or tubby. If you're in-between, nobody will give you a second look. I prefer myself slim, given that choice."

That is a very blunt — and not inaccurate — assessment of dating criteria for many man Noctis knows. He pulls a sympathetic face. "You're single, then, huh."

"Sadly so. And very, very tired of dating sites and apps." Ignis tips back his head, downs the rest of the espresso, and Noctis finds himself looking at a tiny patch of unshaven skin on Ignis's neck. Further evidence, he thinks, that Ignis woke up drunk; the man has never looked even slightly unkempt before. Ignis sets the cup down, shakes his head as he swallows. "People are so… predictable. Nobody wants romance."

"Ha, yeah. I've had that; guys on tinder who open with 'here's my genitals'." Noctis snorts. "You wonder why they bother, surely there's apps _just_ for that."

"Indeed."

"I don't bother anymore, honestly."

"No, I don't either, not really." Ignis picks up and turns the pizza croissant over in his hand. "It's not as if I have time to date, not as things are. It's why my ex broke up with me."

Work is ruining Ignis's love life. Noctis doesn't know how to react; this is partly his fault, taking so much time to check each office and therefore holding up the recruitment schedule. But it's not as if he could apologise right here.

"That's awful."

"It is how it is. No time for anything. At least with you here to hold the fort, I'll be able to attend the training day I was supposed to go to a couple months ago. Any longer and I wouldn't be able to fulfill my training requirements this year."

Ignis can't even do the training the company insists on him doing? That's truly terrible. For a few seconds Noctis seriously considers telling Ignis the truth right here just so he can say how sorry he is.

Noctis blows on his cappuccino, instead. "Still, I'm glad you're still here, otherwise we wouldn't have met."

"Oh, no, don't misunderstand. I like Lucis. They've fast-tracked me through my career and they've been good to me. So, yes, there's a problem right now, but I want to try to stick it out and solve it instead of jumping ship at the first sign of trouble."

So admirable it hurts. Noctis tamps down his smile; he shouldn't be quite so obviously pleased at Ignis's company loyalty.

With food in one hand, Ignis picks up the coffee with his other hand. "Well, I suppose I did threaten to quit, but HR called my bluff. So now I'm just that idiot who's still around."

"Don't say that. Everyone in the office knows you work really hard. I was talking to Cor Leonis last night at the party and he was singing your praises as well." 

"Yes, I did see you and Cor chatting. Can I hope that it's about a potential job that you might want to apply for?"

This level of deceit is starting to make Noctis feel really rubbish — the previous night, Cor had told Noctis that Ignis had been nudging him to offer Noctis a permanent position as his assistant, and to have Ignis confirm the wish is heartbreaking.

"I've got that other placement after this one," Noctis hedges, instead of outright lying yet again. "I guess I'll see after that."

"Don't let what I've just said put you off. Lucis is a great place to work."

"Unless you're doing other people's jobs. You never really talk about what actually happened there."

"The same reason why you don't talk about how you ended up on the inside, I suppose — you want to be judged for who you are now. Lucis — like any big company — had a few bad apples in the barrel, but they've been tossed out and they hardly represent the company as a whole."

Ignis wanted Noctis not to think badly of Lucis? Oh my god. Noctis just about manages to stop himself from declaring Ignis as the purest man he has ever met and melting into a puddle of goo. He focuses. Information, while Ignis is being forthcoming. "Like your old assistant. The one who — did I hear this right? He stole coffee machines."

"Yes, or at least, those were amongst his many false expense claims. Hence our being left with Ardyn the undying. It's rather a sore point." Ignis bites into his croissant. "Mm. God. This is dangerously good."

"You said 'a few'... what did the other people do?" Noctis asks, wanting to hear as much as he can from Ignis's angle. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

It takes a little while for Ignis to finish chewing. "Really there was only one other of note. And his crime was the same as what my assistant did, more-or-less. Titus was just smarter about it and did it on a much larger scale. Luche was a thief, Titus was a full-scale embezzler, over years."

That's pretty succinct. "Wow."

"And Luche was stupid. Titus had already been caught for his fraud, and Luche still persisted with his little stolen pounds here and there, while we were all at full alert for such a thing." Ignis snorts. "I was more disgusted by his idiocy than anything else when I turned him in."

Huh. Noctis had missed that detail before, that Ignis had been the one to notify the company about Lazarus. It wouldn't have been useful in his investigation, anyway, not pointing to any particular virtue on Ignis's behalf; he wouldn't have been the first person to turn in a co-conspirator to draw attention from his own misdeeds. "Anyway. It's nearly Christmas, Noct. Please, let's talk of something more cheerful."

 _Noct_. He's Noct now. This is nice. "Sure. What are you doing over Christmas? Going home to your family?"

Ignis describes a large gathering, of parents and step-parents, siblings and a step-sibling who is young enough to be his daughter. Everyone is close, and Ignis's father is his step-sister's godfather.

"So," Noctis holds up a hand and starts to count. "She has her dad, your dad who's also sort of a dad, and you're old enough to be her dad, and once you get married that'll be another dad. So she'll have four dads."

"Thankfully she doesn't call me Dad too, or family gatherings would be very confusing. Or very interesting. Maybe I'll try and convince her to do that this Christmas, see what happens."

"If tropes are to be believed, girls like having hot gay dads to guide them through fashion crises and save them from awful boyfriends."

Silence. Then Ignis just chuckles into his coffee, and Noctis realises he just called Ignis hot, out loud.

"And how about you, what are your Christmas plans?"

"Stay home, probably. I don't know yet. My dad said he should be home this year, but you can't really be sure until the actual day. He's... got his own business, so he's always busy and he travels a lot, I don't get to see him much."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that..."

"It's fine, I'm used to it. Maybe I'll actually try to hold him to it this year and make him stay home. Or maybe I'll invite all the relatives we never see, see if I can get a bigger gathering than you lot."

All of a sudden Ignis leans forward. "Have you got any photos of your father or your family?"

Shit. "Uh, no. Why?"

"Just want to see if your good looks run in the family."

Oh god. Ignis is _flirting_. Is this the drunkenness talking? "...do you need another coffee?"

"I'm quite alright." Ignis nudges his foot, under the table. "Don't change the subject. Photos."

"I don't have any."

Ignis pulls his face into a sour look, as if unconvinced.

"I don't, I swear. I'll send you a snap at Christmas," and Noctis thinks, to himself, he'll try to forget that promise, in case it makes his resemblance to his father very clear, "but I don't even look like my Dad. I look like my mother."

Ignis tips his head ever so slightly. "She must be a beautiful woman then."

Noctis wonders if he's blushing very very hard. It feels like he is. "... Wow. Damn." He laughs, ducks his head. "You're very smooth when you're drunk."

Ignis sits back. "I'm making you uncomfortable. I'll stop."

"Ahh. No, I'm… I'm just awful at this." Or, well. Noctis knows how to flirt; he's even capable of occasionally being charming and seductive. But not with someone he's having to lie to all the time, or someone who is — technically, temporarily — his boss. But he also doesn't want Ignis to stop, not at all. "But it's okay."

"Is it?

"Yes." Noctis manages to keep eye contact, smiles. "It absolutely is."

Ignis smiles back at him. "In that case, I'll get us another round of coffees. Same again?"

"Please."

When Ignis returns with fresh cups of caffeine, Noctis lets his fingers linger on Ignis's hand before taking his cup, to make sure Ignis understands that he really does like the flirting.

They chat over coffee, drifting from plans for Christmas to their hobbies (yes Noctis does enjoy fishing, and that's real fishing not video game fishing), to the sous vide cooker Ignis has been eyeing for a while (which could be a Christmas gift for himself but he isn't sure if he would use it enough to justify the cost), to pets (Ignis would like a cat, Noctis's family had two dogs who lived to a grand old age), until Ignis suddenly exclaims.

"Oh, holy hell!" He sits up, eyes on his watch. "Look at the time!"

"What?" Noctis checks his phone. They've been here for over three hours. "Oops? Time flies when you're having fun."

"Yes." Ignis moves to stand, looking both amused yet anxious. "But we must go back. I hope—"

"Hey." Noctis reaches forward and grasps Ignis's hand briefly. "You've got your office number diverted to your mobile, right? No one's called, so nothing's exploded. And it's a slow day, people probably haven't even noticed you've gone."

Ignis heaves a deep breath. "Even so, we need to... actually, let's not return to the office just yet."

"No?"

"We need to go back to the venue last night to settle any extra invoices and pick up lost property. Come, let's get a taxi."

"Are we putting that on expenses?"

Ignis laughs. 

\--

Noctis suggested pinning them on the notice board in the kitchen, but Ignis said visitors might see them, so instead he gets a copy of today's newspaper and puts it next to the underwear found at last night's party venue, takes a photo and attaches it to an office-wide email: _if you want them back, leave the unmarked cash at you-know-where._

Apparently this happens every year. Last year it was a pair of boxers, this time it's a pair of knickers. They look new, too, purchased especially to be left behind at the staff party.

"And what happens now? Nobody's gonna claim them," Noctis asks Ignis.

"On the last day of work before the holidays, we put them through the shredder. It's a ritual."

"...Right."

There's a knock on the door. Blond Prompto pokes his head in, waves hi and turns his attention to Noctis. "Hey buddy, got a minute?"

Noctis follows Prompto into the kitchen. "What, are those knickers yours?" he asks, and Prompto hands him a USB stick. "What's this?"

"Photos from last night. I can't tag you cos you don't use Bookface and they're too big to email." All of a sudden Prompto pulls his hand back. "But you aren't getting them until you tell me what happened last night."

"What do you mean, 'what happened'?"

"You and Ignis left the party together." Prompto smirks and wags an eyebrow.

"We... _Prompto_. It's not like that."

"It's not like what?" Prompto uses the USB stick to poke Noctis in the shoulder. "You're so into him."

Maybe it is that obvious, if both Dino and Prompto are commenting on it. Noctis decides there is no point in denial anymore. "Yeah, well. C'mon, look at him."

"Aha! I knew it."

"But he's still my boss, so _even_ though he's a hottie I'm not gonna do anything about it." Noctis makes a grab for the USB stick, manages to pull it out of Prompto's hand. "And we both went to our respective homes alone, when we left the party."

"Dude, so what? You're not gonna be here that long, you shouldn't waste time, just go for it."

Noctis puts his hands on Prompto's cheeks, cups them, tries to look stern. "Look at me. Listen to me. He is my _boss_."

Prompto shoves Noctis's hands away. "Fine, fine. But when he's not—"

When this whole undercover this is over, thinks Noctis, then he's going to ask Ignis out, properly. And then apologise about a hundred times for lying to him, and hope that Ignis doesn't decide to hate his guts.

"Then it'll be _our_ business, not yours," he says. "In the meantime, be cool? Please?"

"You know I'm the least cool person in this office, right."

"You're cooler than Nerd Prompto."

"Oh boy. Such a compliment." Prompto rolls his eyes, and then grins. "Enjoy the photos."

\--

The office winds down towards the eerie ghost-ship-like state that large offices exhibit around Christmas; row upon row of empty desks, darkened rooms where tinsel still hangs.

Ignis rather likes this time of year. Most of their clients and partner companies are similarly quiet around this time, and there are rarely any disasters or problems. It allows Ignis the chance to catch up on tasks that are less important. With the lovely Noctis also seemingly happy to come in, it even means Ignis gets to spare almost a whole day to renew the certifications he needs.

With the daylight hours shortened, by the time Ignis gets back to the head office, the sky has long turned dark. He finds Noctis at their shared office, bent over a pile of paper, almost exactly the same way as he left him this morning.

"Noct?" Ignis says, and Noctis nearly jumps out of his seat.

"God!" Noctis heaves in a deep breath, looking genuinely like he has been shocked. "Hey, Specs."

"It's late. What are you still doing here?" Ignis puts his drink down on Noctis's desk, hangs his coat on the peg on the wall, then goes back to take a look: expenses. "You've been doing this all day?"

"They aren't gonna file themselves." The chair creaks gently when Noctis leans back. He raises his arms and stretches, a motion that makes Ignis's eye drift appreciatively down his torso. "People are awful at this. Stuff's not listed right, there are missing receipts, all sorts."

Ignis understands all too well. "Yes. They got better for a while after Luche was fired, but it's been a few months. I'm afraid everyone's back to their old ways."

"Do you have to do this every time?" Noctis waves at the pile. "Sort it all out for them, I mean?"

"Usually, yes. Or have my assistant do it."

"The problem is you're too nice; you could put your foot down and tell them if they don't file it right then they don't get their money back."

"That might be the quickest way to make me the least popular person here."

"Then at least send it back and tell people to fill it properly? It'd be their own fault if the payment gets delayed. Eventually they'll learn."

"With you here, perhaps. By myself, chasing down every person who did it wrong might take longer than if I just redid it for them."

Noctis looks visibly frustrated on Ignis's behalf. It's sweet. Ignis puts a hand on Noctis's shoulder and kneads it gently, and Noctis doesn't move away from the touch.

"What's that?" asks Noctis, nodding towards the drink Ignis put down earlier.

"Earl grey bubble tea."

Noctis gasps dramatically. "Not coffee? What happened at your training day, did they break you?"

"I only drink coffee..." Ignis shrugs, "oh, 95% of the time. This is quite nice. Do you want to try?"

He nudges the plastic tumbler towards Noctis, who wraps his lips around the straw.

"Mmm, it's good! You know, Ardyn's been on the blink most of the day and I've been on the sad fruit teas that were in the back of the cupboard. I could do with something nicer to drink. Where did you get this from?"

"A little place near the station. I'll show you where it is. Come on, let's call it a day."

They slowly make their way out of the building.

"Was it snowing when you came back? The forecast said it might snow today."

"Not even a speck," says Ignis as the two of them step out of the lift together into the double-height lobby, and they pause right away — there is now a light drift of snow outside. "But the weather forecast is clearly correct."

"I dare say we can brave this."

"Yes, I think so."

It's chilly outside, but not unpleasantly so, and the snow is coming down in such a fine dust that it is more novel than it is bothersome. The street lights are on, and the shops which line the street are playing various acoustic versions of festive music. And Noctis is here. This is almost perfect.

Noctis must have noticed the envious look as he pulls on his gloves. "Hmm?"

"Oh, nothing. My gloves seem to have gone on a walkabout, that's all," says Ignis.

Noctis arches his brows. "Really? You look like someone who'd own many pairs of gloves."

Ignis chuckles. "Perhaps, but I only had the one pair. A bit of shopping is in order."

"Yeah, treat yourself. You should still get that sous vide machine though."

"I dare say I could stretch to both, at a push." Ignis tucks his hands deep into his pockets, wishing they were better-insulated. "It is Christmas, after all. Perhaps I'll ask Santa to oblige."

Noctis stops, dead in his tracks. "Shit."

"What's wrong?"

"Office Secret Santa. I totally forgot. It's tomorrow, right?"

"It is. People will come in for it, we'll all toast our collective good health, we'll all get our presents, everyone will be faintly disappointed." Ignis rather likes the tradition of a Secret Santa — it means nobody has to buy individual presents for their coworkers — but he has resigned himself to the knowledge that nobody ever seems to get _exactly_ what they'd like. "You were organising it. How on earth did you forget?"

"Got too caught up in other things, haha. I'll have to go out and trawl the late-night shops tonight."

"Your recipient is going to get a sack of coal, at this rate."

Noctis's little put-upon pout is adorable.

"Come on, in here." The bubble tea shop's windows are hazy with condensation, which means that a wall of hot, damp air hits them as they go inside. Ignis hastily unzips his jacket and takes off his glasses to clean them. "Right. My treat; what would you like?"

Noctis peruses the menu behind the counter. Most options can be served ice cold or hot.

"I'll have an office manager, already hot."

Ignis nearly chokes on thin air, manages to turn it into a laugh.

Noctis shoots him a sly, pleased look, and then turns back to the girl at the counter. "I mean, green tea, hot, please. Specs, are you getting anything for yourself?"

It's _very_ tempting to reply in kind, that Ignis would very much like to be getting a date, or getting laid. But the timing still isn't quite right, Ignis knows; they really probably shouldn't pursue this beyond flirtation until after Noctis's internship is over. Besides… he's starting to have his doubts about everything to do with Noctis and his so-called internship. Something isn't quite right about it. Noctis is too competent, too good with numbers, as if he doesn't need the training Ignis is giving him. And Human Resources should have been pestering Ignis regularly for updates and information on how their placement was going, if this man truly was someone brought in through the ex-offenders programme.

Given those two facts in conjunction, Ignis thinks Noctis has been placed here with company help for some reason. His best guess is that Noctis is from the Inland Revenue Service, at the moment, here to ferret out tax information with the company's blessing.

And so, while he'd love to escalate into actual innuendo… best not to. It's not the time. Instead Ignis settles for just shaking his head, smiling, and stepping up to the till to make _sure_ he can pay for this before Noctis does.

Noctis doesn't protest, but he does wordlessly offer Ignis a sip of his drink after he's tried it himself.

"An excellent choice," Ignis opines, and Noctis does his sweet closed-eyes smile of delight. "And with that, I will let you go before your santa options really _are_ reduced to whatever is left in the all-night garages."

"Okay." Noctis lowers his drink. "See you tomorrow, then."

"Goodnight, Noct."


	4. Chapter 4

The Secret Santa is, by tradition, held on the very last day the office is open before Christmas. Noctis thinks this is a dumb tradition; a lot of the staff have already taken that day off as part of their holidays.

To his surprise, a lot of those 'technically on holiday' people turn up _just_ for the office secret santa. Possibly because there is a lot of free sherry on offer during the whole event, along with mince pies and what Ignis refers to dismissively as 'snacky junk foods'. The presents are all labelled and people have been stashing them in one of Ignis's office cupboards over the past week, so Noctis grabs one of the mail trolleys and piles them high before rolling the whole cart ceremoniously into the largest meeting room.

"It begins! Gather around!"

What follows is a parade of some of the most mediocre attempts at gifting Noctis has seen in a long time. USB-powered hand-warmers in novelty shapes seems to be a theme, along with coffee mugs with people's names on and sets of generic toiletries. Blond Prompto gets some old-fashioned camera film, which he expresses genuine delight with, so clearly the little switcharoo Noctis pulled in order to have Cindy to buy for him worked out nicely.

Noctis gets socks for his gift. They have Lil' Malbuddy on. He assures his 'mysterious' santa — he's the organiser, he _knows_ they're from Gladio — that he loves them, and tucks them into his bag, and then waits.

It's an organiser perk, he tells himself, to get to pick the assigned giftee of his choice. And while he didn't _quite_ forget when the Santa was going to be, he'd been stumped and had resorted to a backup gift, not very meaningful at all. Thank god that shops stay open so late around this time of year.

Ignis picks up his package, and shakes it by his ear. "Feels soft," he says, musingly, squeezing it, and then he rips off the wrapping paper.

Noctis ducks his head, so he can see Ignis's face properly. Oh. Totally worth the last-minute panicked search, just to see Ignis's pleased smile.

"These are _perfect_ ," Ignis says, holding aloft the gloves. "And I am fairly certain I know who my santa was, so, thank you very much."

After that, even the joy of watching Holly unwrap a complicated-looking construction kit that makes her actually squeal can't top Noctis's warm glow of contentment. He got Ignis a _perfect_ Christmas gift, gloves that Ignis wears throughout the whole of the rest of the gift exchange.

It is fun, watching Ignis _remove_ a glove and then extract from the clear ziplock bag the underwear left over at the Christmas party — "I wouldn't want my new gloves to touch that" — and then put the offending item through the heavy duty shredder, with everyone gathered in the printing room to watch and cheer.

Weirdest ritual ever, but being there for it makes Noctis feels very much like part of the team.

After all the wrapping paper and sherry-stained paper cups are cleared away, Ignis sidles up to Noctis. "Thank you, Santa."

"They do fit okay, right?"

"They do. And I particularly like the leopard-print lining."

Noctis grins and gives himself a proverbial pat on the back. He's seen the pattern on two of Ignis's shirt before — subtly printed of course, the man is stylish, not loud — so it was an informed choice. And a great one, of course.

"Would you like to get a drink after this?"

"I… actually totally would, but I can't." Annoyingly enough, that's true. Tonight is one of the few nights that Noctis's dad is going to be around over this holiday, so they're having a get-together with some of Noctis's aunts and uncles. "Family stuff."

"Ah, well, never mind. Perhaps after the holiday."

It's only a few days of time-off, but Noctis is feeling reluctant to go. Ha, this is like not wanting the school holiday because he was going to miss his friends. Except the friend is tall, handsome, kind, sexy Ignis Scientia and the physical activities Noctis wants to do with him do not involve the playground.

Okay, too much sherry.

"And don't forget, I want to see pictures of your family." Ignis nudges him, gently. "Just to see if my theory is true."

"I'll try."

"I'll walk you down."

It's not even weird-feeling until they're outside, and Ignis casually glances over his shoulder back inside as if checking to see if anyone's watching. And _that_ is when Noctis realises how much this feels like the end of a date, as if it's only a matter of a few more exchanged glances before one or the other of them leans in for a kiss.

Oh god. No. However much Noctis _really_ wants to kiss Ignis, he absolutely cannot let that happen right now.

"So, um, see you after the holidays," he says, and pulls up his scarf high. "Have a good Christmas, okay?"

"You too, Noct." Ignis pats him, on the arm, and smiles. "See you soon."

\--

Ignis's phone pings, during his family's usual charades semi-finals, and he has to bow out to check it.

It's a photo of Noctis, in his endearingly bad Lil' Malbuddy jumper and matching headband, next to an older woman who has to be his mother and another younger women who might be a cousin of some sort. Both of them have a similar sort of eye-shape to Noctis, and the same smooth-looking skin.

Ignis was right. Noctis _does_ come from good-looking relatives.

He spends a moment to compose a response:

_Gosh, it's a good thing I met you first._

A new message arrives almost right away.

_Ha._

_Wait, are you into boobs?_

Ignis decides to send two replies.

_With faces like that, I might be persuaded_ , followed by, _joking, I'm only into you_.

There's a pause, and then another ping. _You're so, so smooth, oh my god._

Ignis smiles to himself. _If by 'smooth' you mean 'shameless', then yes._

_Where's my picture? Show me your handsome relatives, dammit._

As it happens, Ignis has a group photo taken earlier that day, of his entire family. He had to borrow his sister's dreadful selfie stick for it, but it was worth it. He sends it to Noctis.

_Holy shit that's a lot of pretty people. And how do you look good even in that sweater?_

_I look even better out of_ Ignis types, before a shred of decorum stops him and he carefully deletes it. Too far.

Then his phone pings again with another message from Noctis.

_I bet you look even better out of it._

Well. Ignis chokes a laugh, shakes his head at the curious glances from his family, and does his best to come up with a response.

His phone beeps while he's dithering. _Shit, sorry. Too much booze. Forget I said that?_

Bless him.

_Never. And there's a chance you'll find out one day. However,_ and Ignis tries to put it gently, _I think that day should be postponed until after you've finished your internship._

There's a few tense moments of silence, and then Noctis's reply comes. _Totally. Absolutely. Not while you're my boss. Raincheck on sweaterless you until January._

Thank heavens, Ignis thinks, a little light-headedly. Though it's going to be a long wait until the end of Noctis's 'internship', whatever that actually is, with the promise of _something_ blossoming between them like this.

Then: _Actually, February — gonna be away for that other placement. But then, when I'm back from that… dinner? I mean, a date dinner?_

Ignis heaves in a happy lungful of sweet, Christmas-scented air. _I'd love that._

_Awesome. I gotta get back to my cousins but… see you at work. Merry xmas!_

_Merry Christmas, Noct._

\--

Being at home for Christmas, with more family than Noctis thinks he's ever seen in one place at one time, is _fun_.

His actually-at-home-for-this father does pull him aside for a few questions about the placement, starting with the nitty-gritty: if Noctis has found any evidence of further fraud in the head office. It's at least easy to answer a firm no, there, not that he's personally examined every expense report, but if there's anything coming up that's mis-claimed then it's far more likely to be accidental than malicious. Ignis is clean as a whistle, more to the point, and in desperate need of more permanent assistance than an 'intern'.

Noctis's father nods, solemnly, and then asks for more ephemeral information. Morale is decent, Noctis thinks, and staff loyalty is surprisingly high.

"Niffs have been trying to poach our people, though," Noctis observes. "Approached Ignis _and_ Dino, and probably others."

"Really?"

"Both of whom turned down the offers, but—"

"But it's a concern that they're trying, yes. Hmm."

Noctis shrugs. "Or, it's interesting that they're trying, probably because our staff are _better_ and they want our expertise."

His father grins, suddenly. "Well, we _are_ doing better than them according to market share predictions."

"Well, now we've got Tenebrae onside it's all upwards, right?"

"Yes, Ravus and I have been in regular contact. He's fascinated by your 'internship'."

"Not something he could pull off at Tenebrae, is it now." Noctis snorts. "After all his jokes about my boring bland face, it turns out it's a good thing. Still a bit surprised nobody's twigged I'm your son."

His father softly chuckles, and shakes his head. "You're as handsome as I was at your age, but you lack the magnificent beard."

"I'll put growing that off until after I'm done being your spy, then."

"How are you finding the office?"

Noctis opens his mouth—

"Don't say 'it's just up the street and round the corner', son, you know what I mean. I work in that office, but I'm very detached from the day-to-day rhythms of the place."

Oh. "I like it there. We have good people. Terrible coffee machines, but good people."

"And your current manager?"

"Ignis? He's, um." Geez, how to describe Ignis without sounding like the smitten idiot Noctis kind of _is_ about Ignis. "He's great. Dedicated, hardworking—"

"The reception told me you go out to lunch with him and you two leave work together sometimes."

Those damn grasses. "It's the only way to get him to _stop working_."

"And there's nothing more between you."

And did those damn grasses _talk_. "What? No."

"Because Clarus had a thing or two to say about the staff Christmas party."

"Dad, Clarus was drunk after appetisers."

"You were dancing, son. There are photos."

_I'm going to kill Prompto._ "Was I not supposed to?"

Noctis's father just gives him a look.

"And I was forced to. I was dragged. There was tequila."

"Is that so."

"Look." Noctis sighs. "Okay. Ignis and I are friends. He's a nice guy. It doesn't make any difference to my investigation, or to my status as his intern, or anything."

His father sits back in his chair, and _smirks_.

"Dad, it doesn't."

"I believe you. I'm just glad you've made a friend, that's all. Now, come on, your mother will want a hand, and it's your turn to do the dishes."

"Wait, why are you sticking me with that?"

"You're the one who invited our whole family over, son. You pay the price."

\--

The normally 'dead' time between Christmas and New Year is, unfortunately, unusually busy for Ignis this time.

Noctis stares at the piles Ignis has set up on the side-table. "You're kidding me. We still have all of these left?"

"Yes."

"Oh my _god_."

Ignis has to admit it's an intimidating pile. The expenses form, however, just seem never-ending this year. "We need to try and get these done before we close down for New Year. Preferably, a day clear of it, so the accounting office has time to rubber stamp it and actually give people their money."

Noctis does a show of rolling up his shirt sleeves and stretching his arms. "Alright then."

"My apologies; I would love to give you better things to do, more varied work that you can learn—"

"You've not had help for a long time. I get it, it's fine."

"Yes. It's a swim against the current that I'm slowly losing." Ignis sighs.

"Not when I'm here to help you. We'll blast our way through it."

Ignis cannot help himself. "Let's _noct_ this out of the park then, shall we?"

Only the faintest smile of a reaction from Noctis. Oh well.

It feels odd, coming back to the office after being so flirtatious with each other over the phone during the Christmas days off, but the sheer amount of work is helping Ignis ease himself back into a more professional relationship.

Well, perhaps not entirely professional, with the occasional touching of hands and prolonged eye contact and whatnot. But Ignis is only thinking about kissing Noctis once in a while, and he is only letting the idea remain as a thought. So, in relative terms, fairly professional.

With their concentration mostly focussed on getting the work done in time, it is only when the most vociferous grumbling noise escapes from Ignis's stomach that he notices the time.

"Noct? Have you had lunch?"

Noctis looks up like a man surfacing for air at the end of a dive. "Not yet, but now that you've mentioned it — I'm really hungry."

"I brought enough lunch for two, if you'd like to join me?"

They head for the kitchen, and Ignis sets about reheating what he'd assembled from the Christmas leftovers at his family gathering. Noctis looks so gleeful when the microwave dings that Ignis has to comment.

"You must be hungry. The look in your eyes is almost feral."

"It smells _so_ good."

Ignis takes out the Christmas-leftover pies and puts them on some plates he found in the cupboard. There is coffee too, from the kitchen on the floor above because Ardyn is either not feeling cooperative, still on his Christmas holiday, or finally is in his death throes.

"I threw these together quite quickly, so do lower your expectations."

"So you _noct_ these together?"

The smile on Noctis's face is wry, and Ignis loves it. He loves the delighted sound Noctis makes even more, when Noctis takes a bite of his lunch.

"Whoa, this is amazing!"

"Thank you."

"So... you aren't just hot, you also know how to get to a man's heart through his stomach."

His face warming up, Ignis looks around to make sure no one is coming into the kitchen. Seems like the coast is clear. "Perhaps I did have a bit of an ulterior motive."

"No complaints here." Noctis takes another bite. "I'm very okay with being seduced with food." 

"Did I hear the word 'food'?"

And the coast is no longer clear.

Ignis snorts, relieved that Dino presumably didn't hear the word 'seduced' in that case. "Only enough for two, I'm afraid."

The possibly-unwitting intruder joins Ignis and Noctis in the kitchen. "You know what this is? Blatant favouritism. And here I am, a perfectly completed expense form in hand."

"Wonderful. Please put it in my in-tray, Dino."

"Go away, Dino, leave us to our little lunch-date, Dino," Dino grumbles, moving towards Ardyn. "Never a 'here you go, Dino, try some of mine, Dino'."

Noctis shakes his head. "Sorry. It's too good to share. And Ardyn is—"

Dino hisses, and pulls his hand back.

"Biting," Noctis finishes, apologetically. "I think he's got a short in the circuits, somewhere, or water got into them. I got a shock when I tried him earlier too."

"Ya know," Dino says, shaking his hand. "The least the company could do is replace this trash. Instead, he just gets more and more dangerous with time. There's such a thing as work-place injury compensation, am I right?"

Ignis has to agree. "It's on the list. I've been promised a fix in the New Year."

"It'd better happen. Anyways, enjoy your little tete-a-tete."

"Thank you, Dino."

\--

Ignis has brought in lunch for the two of them, again. This is the third day in a row, and even better than a third serving of Ignis's astonishing home-cooked meals is that today they're… coasting, Noctis supposes. The expenses were finished yesterday. Today they get to bask in their success.

And basking, just the two of them in the break room on the last day of the year, with a DO NOT DISTURB slapped across Ardyn's front to discourage others from trying to wrassle with him, is well-deserved, Noctis thinks. They worked hard, and now everything is in the hands of the accounting department. More importantly, Noctis will be leaving this office in a few days, and being able to help get rid of the backlog of work that was partially his fault to begin with makes him feel slightly less guilty about the whole situation.

Today's offering from Ignis is a sort of stir-fried dish, with what Noctis assumes can't possibly still be leftover turkey.

"Chicken," Ignis says, when Noctis holds up a piece and raises an eyebrow. "And since you mentioned it, no carrots at all."

Ignis is _lovely_.

"I only said it cos you asked. I don't mean to be picky."

"I know."

"Coffee?" Noctis gets up.

"Yes please..." Ignis says, watching as Noctis makes for the coffee machine instead of the electric kettle that's been their fallback option. "Just use the instant, Noct."

"Let me give it a go." Noctis plugs the machine back in, fetches a mug, and sets about persuading Ardyn to work. The reservoir looks fine, so if he holds it here, and here, and press...

"From a health and safety standpoint, I must insist—"

"And, here we go." Noctis grins, triumphant, as coffee comes out of the spout. He waits until it's done, then places the mug in front of Ignis. "And no electrocution. It's all about how you push his buttons."

Ignis picks up the offering. "I do remember that you are good with your hands." His glasses steam up as he takes a careful sip. "Very skillful fingers."

Oh god. The staff party. Noctis's dad already brought it up once, and now Ignis too. "I..."

"You thought what happened at the Christmas party stays at the Christmas party? No such rule here at Lucis."

Dammit. "I mean, wouldn't you like to know," Noctis utters, wondering how red his face is right now because it feels like his cheeks are on fire.

"I would, very much," Ignis says, with surprising softness, his gaze on the coffee. "Only several days left. I'll be sad to see you go, Noct, yet at the same time I can hardly wait."

Noctis slides back into his seat. "A few days, plus my other placement up north." It's going to be a long few weeks. "Until then, I'm so going to miss... your homemade lunches."

Nice save, considering that Noctis has just spotted Prompto at the door, peeking in. That guy is so not subtle, and Noctis doesn't want everyone knowing that he and Ignis are at the point where they're exchanging sentimental goodbyes.

"And I will miss your superb taming of Ardyn."

"I _am_ good with my hands."

"Yes, yes you are."


End file.
